Refrigeration apparatus



June 29, 1943. 2 w. RAsKlN REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed April 18, 1942 V a o INVENToR. ffl/Az 75e 7945/6/ A TTORNEv/ Patented June 29, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,322,882 REFnIGEnA'rIoN APPARATUS Waiter Baskin, New York, N. Y. Application April 18, 1942, Serial No. 439,470

7 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to refrigeration apparatus and more particularly to a refrigerator storage cabinet, embodying a special compartment for he fast-freezing of food.

One of the principle objects is to increase the heat transfer or heat extraction within a localized area without substantial increase of the evaporator surface in said localized area and without appreciably affecting the temperature in the storage area.

Another object is to make the evaporator surface of the entire storage cabinet effective for refrigeration within a localized area to increase the rate of freezing.

A further object is to provide a refrigeration apparatus and storage cabinet of increased eili. ciency and reduced operating costs.`

Further objects and advantages inherent in the invention will become apparent from the following specication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which describes and illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigeration apparatus according to the invention with the top removed.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view partly in section and Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3 3 of the Fig. 2.

VThe cabinet according to the invention is'of the so-called dry type. Evaporator plates preferably of the type disclosed in my Patents Nos. 2,156,544 and 2,244,475 are used as refrigerating means. 'Ihese consist of a pair of superimposed metal members which are welded together to provide a plurality of ducts which are flooded with refrigerant liquid from a receiver.x These evaporator plates are also used as wall members to define the storage section and the fast-freezing section. The objects of the invention may be obtained by circulating the air in the storage cabinet directly behind the refrigerator surfaces deflningthe comparatively large storage area into the smaller area to bear directly on the food to be subjected to the fastfreezing process therein. kIn terms of broad 'inclusion the invention contemplates the utilization and concentration of therefrigerating surfaces throughout the cabinet upon the localized smaller area.

It will be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to any particular type' of evaporator plate.

amount of evaporator the vevaporator plates and renders In order to preserve food products, it ls important to freeze them rapidly to solidify the cell structure. Thereafter they may be stored in the storage section in which they are preserved for long periods of time. For this purpose of fast freezing it is essential to have a Jhigh rate of heat transfer or heat absorption Within the fastfreeze section. Naturally, this necessitates a large refrigerator surface.

However, heretofore,

in the fast-freeze section in order to achieve the required faster rate of heat pick up. Since the evaporator plates throughout the cabinet are intercommunicating, the surface temperature is the same throughout the cabinet. Furthermore, since the temperature in the storage section in the old type cabinet had to be maintained at a substantially higher degree than in the fastfreeze section, it was necessary to reduce the surface in the storage section to produce this condition. This resulted in a high temperature differential between the evaporator surface temperature andthe storage temperature, sometimes as high as 50 F. This differential has a very deleterious effect upon the food by reason of the increased dehydration and desiccation.

This harmful temperature corrected by the invention by circulating the air in the cabinet over the` evaporator surfaces, which define the storage section, into the fastfreeze section. It will be understood that such circulation increases the surface temperature of the operation of the condensing unit .more efficient.

Furthermore, the increases in the refrigerated surface within the fast-freeze section naturally is accompanied by an increase in manufacturing cost and by a decrease in the loading capacity of the fast-freeze section.

A further objectionto this conventional construction results from the extremely low temperatures at which the machinery operates. It is obvious that the current consumption will .be increased considerably. y

These various objections have been lremoved by the invention.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing. the cabinet includes a housing I0 having a removable top or cover indicated in dotted lines in the drawing. Within the cabinet differential has been the refrigerated or evaporator surface area has been concentrated4 l and spaced from the housing` walls Il are additional Wallmembers |-2 and I3 which denne a passage i4.

rThe partition aperture 2li for the I between the walls I2 defines a storage section I6 and a fast-freeze section I1.

The fast-freeze section I1 opens into the passage I4 by means of the aperture I8-in the bulkhead I9 and by the aperture 20 which is provided by spacing the respective wall member I2 from the housing wall. y

The fan 2I operated by the motor 22 is mounted for rotation in the aperture I8 and thus causes the air within the cabinet to circulate through the fast-freeze section I1 and the passage Il.

As previously indicated, theA refrigerant medium consists of dry plates and these may be embodied in the wall members defining the sections. For all practical purposes. however, it will be sufficient to embody refrigerant surfaces only in the wall members I2 in the construction disclosed in the drawing, have shown that such surfaces meet the demands of the cabinet.

The evaporator surface, however, is so arranged thatthe temperature will be about .the same in the fast-freeze section as in the storage section. On the other hand, the rate of heat pick up in the fast-freeze section will be much greater than in the storage section because of the fact that the air acts as a secondary refrigerating medium which makes the entire evaporator surface in the passage It, as Well as in the fast-freeze section Il, to become effective for refrigeration of the food in said fast-freeze section.

In passing, it might be mentioned that it is not necessary to have extremely low temperatures in order to accomplish fast freezing as long as the rate of heat pick up is substantially high.

It will be understood, however, that if the circumstances so demand, the wall member I3 as: well as the partition I5 may be equipped 'with -refrigerating surfaces.

As previously indicated, the refrigerating surfaces or the evaporator plates are connected in a continuous circuit and are fed by a reservoir through a condenser which is not shown in the drawing.

The embodiment shown also includes an evaporator plate 23 which is mounted in the end wall of the housing It. It extends into the fastfreeze section between the apertures I8 and 2li and-is connected to the bulkhead I9. The end is spaced from the partition i5 to provide an air current.

Itwill be observed that the evaporator plate 23 is exposed directly to the air current so that it will be swept thereby, as it circulates through the fast-freeze section. This arrangement will stillvfurther `increase the rate of freezing in said section.

During the operation of the apparatus the fan will force the air in the cabinet through the passage I4 over the evaporator plates I2 and through the lfast-freeze section where it will sweep the plate 23 as well as the interior surfaces of plates I2. Thus, the air which is normally in contact with the refrigerating surfaces of the wall members I2 .will be ,forced into the fast-freeze section to bear directly on the food products therein. In other words, the refrigerated air is used as a secondary refrigerating medium.

By virtue of this construction, the cabinet vaccording to the invention will have two sections each of which has the ability of absorbing heat at different rates without having to` reduce or 'increase the temperature of the food or produce as experiments to be stored/in the storage section. Experiments have shown that approximately six times as much heat will be absorbed in the. fast-freeze section as in the storage section in the particular embodiment illustrated in the drawing.

4 It will be understood that this disclosure is not given by way of limitation. On the other hand, the invention lends itself to a variety of expressions within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as novel and what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

l. In a refrigerated cabinet including a housing, a fast-freeze section and a storage section, the exterior walls of said sections being spaced from the walls of said housing to define a passage, said fast-freeze section being apertured with respect to said passage for circulation of air therethrough, at least some of said section walls including refrigerated surfaces, and means for circulating air in said passage, over said refrigerated surfaces and through said fast-freeze section, whereby the entire refrigerated surface in said passage will become effective for refrigeration within said fast-freeze section.

2. In a refrigerated cabinet including a housing, a substantially large storage section and a comparatively small fast-freeze section, the exterior walls of said sections being spaced from the walls of said housing to define a passage, said fast-freeze section being apertured with respect to said passage for circulation of air therethrough, at least some of said section walls including refrigerated surfaces, and means for circulating air in said passage, over 'said refrigerated surfaces and through said fast-freeze section, whereby the entire refrigerated surface in said passage will become effective for refrigeration within said fast-free section.

3.v In a refrigerated cabinet including a housing, wall members defining a storage section and a fastfreeze section, said wall members being spaced from the walls of said housing providing an'intermediate passage, said fast-freeze section being apertured with respect to said passage for circulation of air therethrough, said wall members including refrigerated surfaces, means for forcing the air in said cabinet through said apertures and through said fast-freeze section into said passage and over said refrigerated surfaces, whereby the entire refrigerated surface in said passage will become effective for refrigeration within said fast-freeze section, and an additional refrigerated surface in said fast-freeze section, said additional refrigerated surface being so disposed that it will be swept on both sides by the air current.

4. In a refrigerated cabinet including a housing, wall members dening a substantially large storage section and a comparatively small fastfreeze section, said wall members being spaced from the walls of said housing'providing an intermediate passage, said fast-freeze section being apertured with respect to said passage for circulation ofvair therethrough, said wall members including refrigerated surfaces, means for forcing air in said cabinet through said apertures and vthrough said fast-freeze section into said passage and over said refrigerated `surfaces, whereby the entire refrigerated surface in said vpassage will become effective-for refrigeration within said fast-freeze section, and an additional refrigerated surface in said fast-freeze section,

Vsaid additional refrigerated surface being so disasaassa posed that it will be swept on both sides by the air current.

5. In a refrigerated cabinet including a housing, wall members defining a storage section and a fast-freeze section, said wall members being spaced from the walls of` said housing providing an intermediate passage, said wall members including refrigerated surfaces, means for forcing the air in said cabinet through said apertures and through said fast-freeze section into said passage and over said refrigerated surface, whereby the entire refrigerated surface in said passage will become effective for refrigeration within said fast-freeze section, said fast-freeze section being provided with spaced apertures in the end' distant from said storage section for communication with said passage, an additional partitionforming refrigerated surface in said fast-freeze section between said apertures but spaced from said storage section, to provide an aperture whereby the air current will sweep both sides of said refrigerated surface.

6. In a refrigerated cabinet including a housi ing, a plurality of wall members spaced from the walls of said housing to define a passage therebetween, a partition between said wall m'embers dividing said cabinet into a storage section and a fast-freeze section, at least two of said wall members which are contiguous to said fast-freeze section including rerigerated surfaces, and means for circulating the air in said cabinet through said passage over said refrigerated surfaces and 

